AlarmKit Not Playing Custom Sound or Named System Sounds - iOS 26 beta 4 (23A5297i)

Question

huzaifa_engr OP

Created Aug ’25

Replies 4

Boosts 2

Participants 4

I'm using the new AlarmKit framework to schedule and trigger alarms in my Swift app in iOS 26 beta 4 (23A5297i).

I'm trying to customize the alarm sound using a sound file embedded in the app bundle or by referencing known system tones.

Problem:

No matter what I pass to .named("sound-2"), whether a file bundle url, .named("sound-2.caf"), tried .mp3, .caf & .aiff, or a known iOS system sound like .named("Radar") ("Chimes", etc.), the alarm always plays the default system alert tone. There's no error or warning, but the custom or specified sound is silently ignored.

sound: .named("sound-2")

Question:

What is the correct method or approach to play custom sound / music when Alarm Triggers?
What .named("...") expects file name, file Path URL or System sound name?
Is there any specific audio file length accepted or specific format?

Challenge:

The alarm functionality feels incomplete without support for custom sounds. A single default alert tone is often not sufficient to wake up users effectively. Hope it will be fixed in the next iOS updates.

Boost

Answer 1

Engineer OP

Apple

Aug ’25

Our engineering teams need to investigate this issue, as this might indicate an issue with iOS 26.

We'd greatly appreciate it if you could open a bug report, include crash logs and sample code or models that reproduce the issue, and post the FB number here once you do.

Bug Reporting: How and Why? has tips on creating a successful bug report.

0

Answer 2

digitalsol2 OP

Aug ’25

facing exactly the same issue, this sound api is not working at all no matter what. tried every single thing. can you please take a look at it?

0

Answer 3

litvakle OP

Aug ’25

On beta 5, it started playing sounds from the app Bundle (not more than 30 sec file, plays once without repeat). And it is still not playing sounds from the Library/Sounds folder. What about you?

1

Answer 4

digitalsol2 OP

Aug ’25

same, it plays no more than 30 seconds, does not loop, unclear what the limitations are, would be nice to NOT have the 30 seconds clip, that would be a TRAGEDY. please don't do that, yeah it doesn't loop.

2